How Print Press Stimulated Social and Political Change in Europe - Essay Example

?How Print Press Stimulated Social and Political Change in Europe Introduction The invention of the printing press between 1446 and 1450 led to massive revolutions in the political and social arenas. In fact, the emergence of modernism is heavily attributed to the printing press. It changed the way in which information was distributed to individuals. Literacy levels were increased by this important invention. In the social arena, people became more aware of their rights and revolutions rose against dictatorial leadership. The printing press aided the reformation of the early church. People such as Martin Luther openly opposed the rule of the Roman Catholic Church. He argued that its acts went against the values of Christianity. In the political arena, people had the platform to voice out their political opinions. Wars and revolutions emerged because people realized that their leaders were either dictatorial or had propaganda agendas. The paper will discuss how the printing press stimulated social and political change in Europe. The Printing Press The printing press (movable type) was the indicator innovation in the early contemporary information technology. Between the years 1446 and 1450, Johannes Gutenberg introduced the first printing press in Mainz, Germany. In the following five decades, the technology was widely adopted across Europe. In the same period, the prices of book decreased by two thirds and this transformed the conditions of intellectual work and the ways in which ideas were distributed. Historians indicate that the printing press was one of the greatest inventions in the history of humanity.12 How Print Press Stimulated Social and Political Change in Europe The rise of modernism is attributed to the invention of the printing press and the spread of literacy throughout Europe. The increased literacy stimulated considerable changes in politics, art, philosophy, and science, and especially, instigated a response against religious, magical, and superstitious thinking in Europe. As a result, five great abstractions of ideas emerged in the literate west and they include abstract laws, mathematics, theoretical science, speculative philosophy, and imageless deities. Apart from the imageless deities, the other abstractions were very crucial in the success of modernism in the West.3 It is important to note that before the printing press invention, owning a Bible or any other book was a rare feat. As the printing presses proliferated, so did the Bibles and other books. These books became increasingly available to the population, thus the information accessible and available to individuals increased rapidly. Consequently, it encouraged the development of literacy. In the 17th century, political pamphlets and technical literature, storybooks and novels, as well as commentaries on religious matters and the Bible became very common. Magazines and newspapers began appearing in the 18th century. In the 19th century, the levels of literacy were well spread enough to develop a market for cheap press. It is during this time that advertising found its place in the market.4 The printing press created significant changes in the economic, political, and social spheres. It increased the speed and reduced the costs of reproduction. Printing press made the dissemination of ideas much easier. Manuscripts and books ceased to be isolated to a particular group (monarchs) in the society, and became accessible and available to most people in the society. Thus, they started serving as important forums for public discussion. Happening at a period of political and religious turmoil, the printing press presented the European monarchs with both an economic opportunity and political threat. The development of the law of copyright was to deal with this threat and take advantage of the opportunity presented.5 Direct censorship was the viable means for confronting the political threat coming from the printing press. It also muffled the printing industry and consequently limited the economic benefits of the government from the printing. The English government had to align itself with the publishers in order to end the distribution of seditious and heretical literature.6 After the remarkable success of the printing press during the Reformation period, the utilization of printed propaganda developed into an essential feature of ideological conflict and war for dissidents and governments. In the Thirty Years War which began in 1618 and ended in 1648, a catastrophic conflict occurred which involved most of the European nations. The war resulted in the complete destruction of property and the death of approximately 25 percent of the population. It is suggested that the printed propaganda was used for the first time to fuel war of such intensity.7 Both Mazarin and his predecessor Cardinal Richelieu of France maintained a stringent censorship to manage public opinion. Only one official newspaper (Renaudot’s La Gazette de France), launched in 1631, was allowed to publish news. It functioned as the government’s mouthpiece and printed a selection of international and local news. Despite it being the only source of information, not all could read it because it was not affordable. The Gazette monopoly was also present during the reign of Louis XIV. The failure to offer a constitutional platform for public opinion and the King’s celestial inaccessibility lead to the widening of the rift between the French people and the monarchy. The rift ended several decades (approximately 74 years) after the death of Louis.8 The advent of the printing press changed the manner in which information was distributed in the early contemporary Europe. The most notable feature was the expansion of the role of the public opinion in politics and coercing the government to deal with issues surrounding the oppositional and state propaganda. The Puritans (in early 1600s) opposed to the quasi-Catholic attitudes and absolutism of King Charles I (reigning between 1625 and 1649) led a great propaganda campaign to oppose what in their opinion was danger to their civil liberties. Charles’ unwillingness to change and his inability to control the growing criticism forced him to fight.9 In the subsequent civil war between 1642 and 1646, the system of censorship and licensing broke down and this led to a vicious propaganda war. Numerous pamphlets and newssheets were published during the war; the Parliamentarians mostly did this work because they controlled most of the printing presses in the nation. Terrified by the volume and the speed of materials being generated, the Parliament, in 1643, was forced to re-impose censorship by licensing. John Miltan (a Puritan poet) and a group called the Levellers harshly criticized the measure. England was transformed into a Puritan nation after Charles I was defeated in 1645 at Nasbey and his refusal to fulfill the demands of the Parliamentarians. Oliver Cromwell (Lord Protector) viewed his mission as a saintly struggle to remove evil from the universe. However, the people saw him as a dictator and an individual who was not an effective propagandist10. Popular support diminished as people protested against the disappearance of freedom, which the Puritans had fought for very hard. From these events, it was evident that for a revolution to live, it must possess the means to communicate positively the agenda it has. It was also evident that in the future, where the subjects have to gain access to the printing press, the continued existence of the monarch will rely on the public opinion and not on the will of God.11 During the Age of Enlightenment, political and social ideas fuelled the desire towards liberty, the right to self-governance, and common sense. This led to the revolution in Europe and a decisive separation from the traditional principles of absolutism and religious authority.12 Improvement in transport and in printing and paper technologies were expressed in higher levels of literacy and the equivalent expansion of the public opinion’s role in political life. Both the practice and the means of propaganda were initiated into the modern world threshold. Satirical and political cartoons were introduced in the 18th century. Hand-colored engravings and etching illustrations played a crucial role in the propaganda campaign.13 The political effect of the print could not be hidden. In 1461, the two rival Mainz archbishops saw the benefits of printing fliers to influence public opinion. At the beginning, the press was free because the invention of the printing press was a private affair and was financed neither by a secular ruler nor by the church. Schoffer and Fust unwilling to make public their personal loyalties printed propaganda to fuel their own interests. Adolf II of Nasau permitted Schoffer and Fust to conduct their businesses in Mainz. This is after Gutenberg and other residents of Mainz were sent into exile. Adolf had realized the usefulness of the printing press.14 Adolf’s rewards and praises to Gutenberg expressed his awareness of the value (particularly political importance) of the press. Protests against the Roman Catholic Church corruption were not a new phenomenon. Before the invention of the printing press, the church usually succeeded in defeating nonconforming voices by resorting to executions, crusades, and trials for heresy against its critics. A 14th century theologian John Wyclif supported most of the reforms including the translation of the Bible into English so that more individuals could read it. His reforms were termed as heresy and his followers were eventually executed.15 However, in the early 16th century, the German leader of Protestant Reformation, Martin Luther, made use of the press conquer the church’s suppressive tactics. He took a bold public step against church practices (such as the sale of indulgences) that he deemed corrupted the Christianity’s true spirit. Luther was not exceptional since he could have been silenced were it not for the printing press, which made his writing easily accessible. In 1517, Martin Luther published sermons, fliers, hymns, and pamphlets that explained and defended his views. Church efforts to suppress the writings of Luther were fruitless. Booksellers, trade routes, and presses made it difficult for the church to stop the distribution of printed matter it rejected.16 Before Luther died in 1546, close to a half of the territories in Germany had disentangled themselves from the Roman Catholic control.17 The success of Luther was an inspiration to other reformers to establish other Protestant churches. The reformed churches included those of John Calvin and Huldreich in Switzerland, and John Knox in Scotland. There were state religions free of Rome and they included Denmark, the Netherlands, England, Norway, and Sweden. A more fundamental religious reformation movement called the Anabaptists emerged. This movement also protested against the state control of religion.18 These social changes were influenced by economic and other factors. However, the rapid spread of ideas criticizing the Roman Catholic Church through the printing press played the major role. The print revolution also assisted political uprisings in the late 18th and early 19thcenturies. John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau (early European philosophers) probed the outright power of the monarchs. These philosophers argued that people possessed the right to select the form of governance they wanted. Literate individuals read about the philosophers ideas in books. Handbills, newspapers, and tracts carried these ideas into the wider public.19 In other words, people become more enlightened in issues related to them through the printing press. It is important to note that the first religious movement was the Reformation and the printing press aided it. Before the emergence of Martin Luther, the Western Christendom had asked the printers to assist them with campaign against the Turks.20 These reformers left an enduring impression in form of caricatures and broadsides. Developed to attract the attention and stimulate the passion of the 16th century readers, the reformer’s antipapist cartoons have a strong influence even in the present day. It is worth mentioning that the reformers knew that the pressing print was beneficial to their motives and they recognized its significance in their writings. For instance, Luther described the printing as “God’s highest and extremist act of grace, whereby the business of the Gospel is driven forward.”21 Conclusion The printing press played a crucial in the political and social changes in Europe. Through the printing press, people became aware of their rights both politically and socially. Reformations and revolutions rose because of the quest to seek change on both political and social platforms. The notable social changes include the church reformation during the times of Martin Luther (16th century). Luther openly criticized the practices of the Roman Catholic Church. This led to the rise of Protestants, his determination and the strength of the printing press made it difficult for the church to suppress his efforts. In the political arena, people found a platform to air their political opinions. One of the significant influences of the printing press is the spread of propaganda, which led to the outbreak of wars in Europe. Works Cited Childress, Diana. Johannes Gutenberg and the Printing Press. Minneapolis, MN: Twenty-First Century Books, 2008. Print. Dittmar, Jeremiah. “Information Technology and Economic Change: The Impact of the Printing Press.” The Quarterly Journal of Economics 126.3 (2011): 1133-1172. Print. Dittmar, Jeremiah. Ideas, Technology, and Economic Change: The Impact of the Printing Press. Washington, DC: American University, 2009. Print. Eisenstein, Elizabeth L. The Printing Revolution in Early Modern Europe. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2012. Print. Landsberg, Joe. Threads in the Tapestry: A Commentary on Modern Life. New South Wales, Australia: Joseph [Joe] Landsberg, n.d. Print. Moore, Colin. Propaganda Prints: A History of Art in the Service of Social and Political Change. London, UK: A&C Black Publishers Limited, 2010. Print. National Technical Information Service. Intellectual Property Rights in an Age of Electronics and Information. New York, NY: Diane Publishing, 1986. Print. Nicole. “Science, Enlightenment, Progress, and Evolution.” Center for Future Consciousness. Web. 7 Sep. 2012. Read More